Speech On The Right Of Children To Free And Compulsory Education Bill 2009 Edited

Hon’ble speaker Madam! Thank you very much for providing me the opportunity to speak on ‘The Right of Children to free and compulsory Education Bill 2009’. I rise to support the bill as this will prove to be a Turning Point in the History of Indian Education. . Plato's Republic popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought. Since then most countries have made some kind of education as compulsory to all people. In October 1937, Gandhiji called a conference. The conference passed a resolution which agreed that free and compulsory education should be provided to every child of seven to fourteen years of age. . It was only in 2002 that education was made a fundamental right in the 93rd amendment to the Constitution. Thus it has taken 55 years from Independence to make education a fundamental right of children and a further 6 years for the Right to Education Bill to be introduced in parliament. Though we have taken too much of time it is better late than never. I wish to congratulate Hon’ble Education Minister Shri Kapil Sibaljee to give the rights of children top priority and making us a party to this

historic decision which will determine the course of India in the 21st century as said by Kapiljee in Rajya Sabha. 1.

Inclusion of Venture Schools of Assam: Hon’ble Speaker Madam, Section 6 of Chapter-III viz. duty of appropriate Government and local authority to establish schools has a direct impact on the State of Assam. In Assam, the Government doest not open a school. It is the community which opens schools with the permission of the Government which are locally known as “Venture Schools”. The schools are than given recognition after meeting some conditions. Followed by recognition the schools are provincialized (taken over) under respective State Laws. Currently, such community schools which are yet to be provincialised serve nearly 25% of the school going children in the state. These schools are in very bad shape in absence of any state funding. These were set up as a tradition and with the understanding that in due course of time. But due to financial crisis the State Government is not provincializing the schools since last 15 years. I strongly suggest to take note of this unique exception of the norms of the opening schools in Assam. The Government must make appropriate amendment in the bill so that these venture schools also are covered in the category of Schools as specified in sub-clause (i) and (ii) of clause (n) of Section-2.

2.

Pinpointing of Madrassa as School: Honble Speaker Madam! I wish to draw the attention of the House and Government regarding State run Madrassas. The bill should specifically mention that Madrassas which are aided by State Government also fall in the category of Schools as specified in sub-clause (i) and (ii) of clause (n) of Section-2.

This will ensure at par growth of the Madrassas without any so called scheme of Modernization which barely meets their needs. 3.

Specific Mention of Muslims as disadvantaged group: Special emphasis on SC, ST, disadvantaged groups are appreciable. I request the Government to specifically include/mention “Muslims” as disadvantaged group under sub-section-d of clause 2 of Section-1.

4.

Financial Impact on Special Category States including Assam: Hon’ble Speaker Madam! The clauses 1-4 of Section 7 have direct bearing on state Government especially the special category states like Assam. I can understand the limitations of my Congress Colleagues in assessing the consequent liabilities of the state Government and communicating the inability their Government to implement the bill due to financial crunch. All the special category states are in default in providing state of SSA. Under the present circumstances it will be difficult to manage even the 10% state share for the purpose which will be not less than the 25% of the current education budget of the state government. Therefore I would suggest that the Central Government should  bear entire capital expenses for the NE states especially Assam  bear the entire recurrent cost for a period five years for the NE states especially Assam

5.

Inclusion of Financial Implication and Commitment:

Hon’ble Madam Speaker, Annual financial implications of the bill will be not less than Rs. Fifty thousand crores. The bill is being discussed and debated for six years. It is very unfortunate that the department of education fails to assess and include in the bill the tentative capital and recurrent financial liabilities of the central and state Governments. I strongly urge the Government to let the House know about the financial impact of the bill especially on state exchequer. I also urge The Central Government to provide the bulk of the additional funds required to ensure the Right to Education. 6.

No penalty provision for violation by Government: Hon’ble Madam Speaker, Though for the non-state actors like private schools the Act has made specified provisions of penalty for non-adherence, surprisingly, it is not specified what action will be initiated if the appropriate authority like Central, State Government and local authority fail to adhere to the norms specified in the bill. Therefore, I strongly demand that penalty provisions should be specified in the bill for appropriate authorities. This will ensure a accountability and fair play.

7.

Exclusion of 0-5 years and 15 to 18 years children: As a signatory to the UN Child Rights Convention, India has accepted the international definition of a child, which is up to age 18. The bill proposes to cover only children from age 6 to 14, clearly excluding and violating the rights of the 0-6 and 14 to 18 year olds.

Therefore, the children below six years and above 14 should be included. 7.

Inadequate Minimum Hours of Instruction: The minimum hours of instruction should be increased 800 hours at primary level to 1000 hours and from 1000 hours to 1200 hours at Upper Primary level Also, the government has not addressed the issue of shortage of teachers, low skill levels of many teachers, and lack of educational infrastructure in existing schools let alone the new ones that will have to be built and equipped.

8.

Absence of provision for materials other than textbooks: The bill has not made provision for exercise books, pen, pencil, uniform etc in absence of which the doors will remain close for poor. These should be included to make education truly free for

9.

Basis of reservation of 25% seats not specified: While the clause requiring private schools to reserve 25% seats for free quota is significant, the basis on which one can get admission in this quota is not mentioned. This should be mentioned.

10.

A case of guaranteeing graduation but not education: The bill sought to implement non-detention policy and issue of only completion certificate. Thus it fails to guarantee that a child has acquired competencies deriving from the education process. No standards are set for learning outcomes. This is a case of guaranteeing graduation but not education.

12.

Existing shortcomings of the institutional structures

The Bill draws no attention on the existing shortcomings of the institutional structures for teachers’ training and innovation. There should be more clear and strict provisions for capacitating the educational support structures, like the SCERT, SIEMAT and DIET. Formation of a separate cadre of these organizations would greatly contribute towards professionalizing teaching. 13.

Inappropriate Redressel Mechanism While the provisions provide that an aggrieved person may lodge a complaint with the local authority. It is not appropriate that the very same body that is responsible for ensuring protection of the rights of the child is also made responsible for deciding upon a complaint against it. Adequate and appropriate redressal mechanism should be included in the bill.

In the end, I quote Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru saying, “Children were like the buds in a garden. They should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they were future of the nation and the citizen of tomorrow.” Let us therefore make children worthy of our country by unanimously passing the Bill.

(M. Badruddin Ajmal) IC-48